


Bet My Life

by abraxos_sniffing_flowers



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Arranged Marriage AU, F/M, but i'm nice, mainly wolflet but every else gets small mentions, minus the suicide, originally this was gonna be hella romeo and juliet, scarlet's dad is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 00:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11242593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abraxos_sniffing_flowers/pseuds/abraxos_sniffing_flowers
Summary: Scarlet's father had almost ruined their family with his gambling addiction.But she never thought he would go as far as to trade her hand in marriage.





	Bet My Life

**Author's Note:**

> //Kesly and Benoit families are rich families from different area’s.\\\// Wolf has his own manor and area, whereas Scarlet, until married, has to stay with her father/grandmother.\\\//Scarlet is 20, Wolf is 25\\\

_Surely her father wasn’t that stupid_ was all Scarlet could think when her grand-mere told her that she had to get _married._ Because, like a crétin, her father had lost a bet and now she was stuck with having to meet with stupid lord Kesley’s sons so they could decide which would marry her. Scarlet had sworn like a sailor for almost an hour and a half and Scar believed the only reason her grand-mere didn’t scold her ears off, was because her grand-mere was feeling the same way but was much too trained to use Scarlet’s vocabulary.

 

Her father stayed out of the way, head down to escape from her wrath at the atrocity of what he’d done. _He’d sold his daughter off._

 

And the lord’s sons were coming to the manor. _Today._

 

She had come to the breakfast table in her favourite waist hugging but soft red dress, refusing to squish her curves into a corset for these males when she didn’t want to be meeting either of them. The front pieces of her curly (see; unruly) hair had been pinned back, allowing the rest of the locks to fall free.

 

_She hated it all._

 

“The lord and his sons should be here soon after breakfast, Scarlet. I expect you to be on your best behaviour.” Her father says firmly, making her glare at him with the fiery eyes that her grand-mere had said all Benoit women possess.

 

“I will be ready for this when I’m ready. You never had to go through this so don’t push me.” She stood, pushing her chair back. “I’m going for a walk in the gardens to clear my head.” Scarlet moves to the door before her father can try to stop her and stalks out, her shoes clicking on the empty hallway floor as she heads toward the shining glass doors that lead to the manor gardens, to her own personal vegetable garden that her grand-mere helped her grow when she was younger. Her and one of the butlers had carried a couple of benches out to enjoy the sun and it had become her safe space.

 

It was now she realised why she needed a safe space. Collapsing onto one of the benches, Scarlet let her face fall into her hands, her body shaking slightly as she huffed out all her pent up feelings. She couldn’t look up, wouldn’t look up, because then she would remember that she could never be near this garden again.

 

“Scar” her fathers voice yelled from the back dais and she sighs. Her time was up.

 

_Her freedom was up._

 

Sighing, she stood and set her shoulders. She turned and stalked away from her garden and up the stairs, sending her father a cold glare.

 

“Drawing room” he mumbled, cowering underneath her gaze and she moves down the hallway toward the drawing room. She lessens her glare before she walks into the room, making herself seem less violent. Her grandmother sat atop one of the chaises, smiling tightly at three strangers who all turned to her when she entered.

 

The two younger men shared the same bright forest green eyes, seemingly untameable brown hair and straight nose but that was where the similarities ended. The younger looking one was smiling viciously and looking over her body appreciatively, like it was his right. The obviously elder one, even though his facial features looked harsher in an almost wolf-like way, had his eyes glued to her face (as if he would be scolded for looking at the rest of her) and he frowned slightly at the displeasure on her face. His eyes were kind but showed hints of uncomfortableness, like he wanted to be here just as much as she did. He nods at her and she nods back, thankful for his empathy. Scarlet moves to sit beside her grand-mere, her red skirts swishing softly against the floorboards.

 

“I want her.” The younger brother proclaims rudely and his father subtly glares at his son.

 

“Miss Benoit, my sons, Ran and Ze’ev.-” He says, pointing them out “Both are interested in the prospect of marry-“

 

“Z’s not interested, he’s here so I can’t marry her” Ran argues, cutting his father off in a way that made both Benoit women raise an eyebrow. Ze’ev sighs softly, looking pained at his brothers antics.

 

“I believe my elder son should be the first to be presented with women to marry and that is why he is here. Ze’ev, what say you?” The room felt stifling when Ze’ev’s eyes search hers.

 

“Miss Benoit looks worried. Can I speak to her alone please father?” He speaks with gentle roughness to his voice, not too loud, but refined enough to do well in court. Lord Kesley nods, smiling softly at his eldest, who stands and bows to Scarlet, offering his hand. Ran scoffs in the background, but her eyes are glued to Ze’ev’s. She takes his hand cautiously and he grips it like a lifeline.

 

_Hmm, not as calm as he seems._

 

She stands and he tucks her arm into the crook of his elbow. He nods at her to lead the way and she moves, leading him out to the garden towards the maze of hedges to the side. Both Ze’ev and Scarlet release a big breath the moment they exit the manor and she chuckles softly.

 

“Are you alright Miss Scarlet?” he asks politely. “I know Ran can be a bit… um-“

 

“Of an arse.” He laughs at that, throwing his head back a little, his face lighting up in a way that made him much more attractive. She smiles at him as his laughter fades away and he sends her a small smile, like they were sharing a secret.

 

“You’re right, and you are a lot fiercer than I could have prepared for. I’m sorry you’re right about Ran.” Ze’ev looked genuinely apologetic about how his brother behaved.

 

“Don’t apologise. We all have a family member like that.”

 

“You’re thinking of your father? I’m sorry you ended up in this position as well.” Scarlet shrugged.

 

“Nothing crazy my father has done has surprised me. Made me think of him differently, made me distrust him, made me upset yes. But he hasn’t surprised me. Honestly, if a betrothal is what it takes to get me away from him, then I will run with it.”

 

“If I were to marry you to save you from my brother, would you agree? Because my father expects me to be betrothed by the time the year is out and I find you to be someone I think I could love. My brother has started looking for a wife only recently but still has a long way to go and I wouldn’t want to force you to marry me but I believe that my father has made sure one of us is getting betrothed today. I want you to understand that I will easily be able to fight against Ran to marry you. Don’t feel as if I’m pressuring you though. I will marry you whenever you are ready, whether it be in a year or a decade.” 

 

Scarlet considered his spiel. He seemed kind and genuine, as if he was trying to make sure she wasn’t uncomfortable.

 

“I have a manor.” Ze’ev continues “To myself. Your grand-mere mentioned you have a garden you like to be alone in. My manor has plenty of land and I would love to know how to garden, something you must be exquisite at considering how pretty it looks from here.” She raises an eyebrow at him and the back of his neck turns slightly red under her scrutiny.

 

“I- I would much rather… marry you than him.” She agrees softly after a moment and he shoots her a reassuring smile.

 

“I’m not lying to you about who I am and I hope you can understand why I want to help you not be married to Ran.” She nods and faces forward and leads them back to the manor.

 

“I would love to teach you to garden, Ze’ev.” She smiles gracefully and his shoulders seem to relax.

 

“Thank you Miss-“

 

“Just Scarlet will do. I have no purpose with titles.” He chuckles lightly as they meander out of the hedges. The sun lights Ze’ev’s face up, his darker skin glowing.

 

“Most of my friends call me Z. Maybe you could too.”

 

“I would like that.” They re-enter the manor laughing and talking. Z leads her back into the drawing room, squeezing her hand as he lets her go sit beside her grand-mere. Scarlet notes how Ze’ev’s shoulders have tightened back up when he sits between his brother and father.

 

“Have you two discussed?” Ze’ev nods tight-lipped and his father motions or him to speak.

 

“Miss Scarlet and I have decided to marry when she is ready. Until then, she will come back to my manor and live with me.” Ran seems to huff at the decision and Scarlet scowls at him.

 

“I’m glad you have decided that.”

 

*~* 1 year *~*

 

“You look lovely today my dear.” Z says to her as she walks into the dining room. He takes her hand and presses a kiss to it as she leans down and kisses his hair lovingly. Ze’ev had proved to be a genuine and respectful man and he wasn’t pushy or angry with Scarlet about anything. He was more than willing to help her with her garden and shared her love of cooking. Their relationship had grown and they were both so in love with each other. Scarlet didn’t ever think that her father’s stupidity could lead her here, but it did.

 

She sat down beside Ze’ev, enjoying how his thumb slid across the top of her hand. She perched on her seat almost nervously, fiddling with her hair and her tunic. He looked over at her, noting her odd behaviour.

 

“Scarlet, are yo-“

 

“I want to marry you, Z” Scarlet blurts, letting her hair fall in her face when she realised how rash she had been in saying it. Saying what she’d been thinking about for almost two weeks now. Ze’ev is silent for a second before he bursts out of his chair and sweeps her into one of his signature bear hugs, smattering her face with kisses, smiling brightly, smiling the way that makes his eyes shine and his face light up.

 

“I love you.” he whispers, pulling her close to his chest. She let her arms wind around his chest and pulled him just as close.

 

“I love you too” Ze’ev pulls away to look at her before stepping away and dropping to one knee and pulling a box out of his coat pocket.

 

“Probably should stick to formalities right. So, Miss Scarlet, will you marry me?” She giggles at him and nods, letting him slip a dainty gold diamond ring on her finger. She sits on his knee before he could stand and kisses his cheek. 

 

_Loving him was the easiest thing she ever did._

 

*~*

 

“Cress, your standards are too high.” Emilie giggles from her place on the chaise in the boutique. Cress shrugs easily, looking over her friends as they wait for Scarlet to come out from behind the divider.

 

“I’ve picked dresses for Scarlet since she became a teenager and this is an important one. I’m not going to be hasty in help Scar make a decision. It’s her wedding.”

 

“Okay, okay. And how’s the flirtatious captain whose courting you?” Winter asks almost teasingly and Cress’ cheeks flush at the mention of Carswell Thorne, the man who had insisted on courting, in his words, the prettiest girl in the galaxy. Winter giggled at her blushing, softly patting her hand.

 

“Carswell is lovely and very respectful. How about you Winter, how’s Jacin?”

 

“Jacin and I are old friends who just so happened to grow into where we are today. Cousin, how is Kai?” Cinder looks up as Winter calls on her and smiles.

 

“Kai is stressed. Lots of meetings and the likes, but he always has time for me. He is still the same man I married last year.” Cinders smile turns almost dopey and it’s obvious that she’s thinking of her husband.

 

“Cress, can you help me with this please?” Scarlet’s voice calls from behind the divider. Cress stands, brushing her hair out of her eyes and walking to where Scarlet stood. Cress looks over her and shakes her head.

 

“You are not wearing a dress with a corset for your wedding because I know you hate them and so I’m not going to help tie you into something you will disagree with. Wear something with a tighter bodice but don’t bother with a corset.” Cress says firmly. After many years of being a lady-in-waiting for Scarlet, she knew the red-head’s shape and dress preference and clothes was the one thing Cress wasn’t shy about. Scarlet seemed to visibly release a breath.

 

“Thanks Cress. Don’t know what I would do without you.”

 

“I know.” The smaller girl lets a small smirk grace her face before walking back to the couches where the other women sat, her mint coloured dress (a gift from her beau, claimed to be the height of fashion in Paris) swaying around her calves. As Cress sat down, there is a long moment of rustling and then Scarlet emerged in a different dress, this one make all the girls nod in agreement. The neckline was off her shoulder and the bodice was waist hugging and the skirt flowed like water, silvery white in colour. A bright red sash was draped across her waist, matching the brightness of her hair against the white. The girls all smile but Scarlet looks nervously at her ex-lady-in-waiting, breath held, as Cress looks at the dress with her ever critical eye. Finally, Cress nods, a smile breaking out across her face and Scarlet releases the breath, spinning to look at the dress in the mirror and gasping.

 

Winter hops into the mirrors frame, squeezing her shoulders and smiling brightly, her corkscrew curls bouncing in her excitement. Cinder joins her vastly different looking step-cousin and smiles knowingly at Scarlet. Cinder is the only one with knowledge of how marriage is and Scarlet appreciates her wisdom. Emilie and Iko, stood behind her, their hands clasped and smiling at her.Cress smiled brightly at her, happy tears in her eyes.

 

“I say, we pull your hair half-up, soft pink lipstick and-“ Iko pauses, head cocked to the side before Emilie hops slightly.

 

“Mascara and bright red heels.” Her girlfriend nods and they both smile evilly. Scarlet rolls her eyes at their suggestions, turning to fix a fake-glare on the two.

 

“No mascara.” Her maid-of-honour and her girlfriend frowned in way that didn’t meet either of their eyes. Scarlet turned back to the mirror and looked over herself, smiling brightly.

 

_She was getting married._

 

*~*

 

The girls flurry around the room in a blur of soft colours. Cress wore a pastel yellow, Winter in faded pink, Cinder in green, Iko in robin’s egg blue and Emilie in pastel purple. Scarlet had let them choose their colours but they all wore the same floor length dress with simple long sleeves and a Queen Anne neckline. All designed by Cress as Scarlet’s wedding present. 

 

The bride in question was sitting through Iko’s curling and pinning of her hair, pulling half of it up and letting the rest swirl down her back in fiery waves. Cress was gently winding white flowers and a veil into her hair and Emilie was finishing the application of matte red lipstick.

 

The trio eventually pulled away and let Scarlet stand and turn to face the mirror. Scarlet softly gasped at her reflection. This looked like her, but at the same time, so beautifully not like her. Cress hummed softly in approval before silently crouching down and fixing Scarlet’s skirt. Cress pulled down the veil over her face gently and fluff’s her hair before stepping back.

 

“Okay, you’re ready.”

 

Cinder took her arm gently, leading her out the door, not needing to speak to convey her feelings to Scarlet. Scarlet and Cinder had been friends with each other for years and both understood each other’s silence, tending to stick to each other in the rowdiness of their friends. 

 

“Don’t be afraid of this, Scar. If it’s the right person, then it’s worth every moment of nerves, trust me,” Cinder says softly, her voice gentle. 

 

“How did you know Kai was that person?” Cinder considers her question for a second before shrugging.

 

“There isn’t a particular way to know, it’s a feeling. You know because the relationship isn’t always easy, but it’s always right.” _Huh, who knew Cinder was the best at romantic advice._ Scarlet considered her relationship with Ze’ev over the past year. It hadn’t been easy when his dad passed away, or when her grandmother went missing and was found dead only a week after she moved to Ze’ev’s manor. _No, definitely not easy._ But it never felt wrong. It, _they,_ had always been something that felt extremely right to Scarlet. She smiled, nerves pushed aside. Today was going to be a great day, because she said so.

 

“Good luck,” Cinder whispered as they stopped in front of the door. Cinder let her arm go and walked towards where the other four girls stood and Scarlet turned to face where her father stood. She took a moment to contemplate why Ze’ev had convinced her that it would be good to reach out to her father for her wedding as he stood there, bow tie askew and hands twitching suspiciously. She approached him with her head held high and her famous Benoit women glare set on him. All the hatred she has for her father rushes back at her as he nervously attempts to smile at her.

 

“Hey Sc-“

 

“Don’t come to the reception, you’re only here because Ze’ev convinced me to invite you and I thought you might be redeemable, but I’m realising you aren’t, not to me anyway. You can sit through the wedding but after that I expect you gone, are we clear?” Luc nods and Scarlet loops her arm through his as the music starts playing through the cathedral and Cress starts walking down the aisle. Scarlet clears her heads of her issues with her no-good father and thinks about Ze’ev again, smiling giddily at what is about to come.

 

Emillie is her maid-of-honour and leads Scarlet into the cathedral where she catches sight of Ze’ev and she suddenly can’t breathe. She had seen him dressed formally, sure, but this time, _they were getting married._ Obviously Cress had told Thorne to tell him to wear a red vest and bow tie to match her and he looked handsome. He watched her walk up the aisle with a soft smile on his face and she smiled at him from under her veil as she slowly took steps toward a new future.

 

She finally reached the end of the aisle and her father gave Ze’ev her hand. She stepped up to meet him. He was grinning now and there were tears in his eyes.

 

‘You look beautiful,’ he mouths when the preacher starts talking, winking at her. The preacher turns to them when it came to the vows and asked Ze’ev to repeat after him. Ze’ev squeezed her hands and repeated;

 

“I, Ze’ev Kesley, take you, Scarlet Benoit, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.” Z says confidently in his usual quiet voice, leaning incrementally closer to her. The preacher turned to Scarlet and she repeated her vows.

 

“ I, Scarlet Benoit, take you, Ze’ev Kesley, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.” Scarlet brought her hand forward and gently brushed a tear from Ze’ev’s cheek. She could hear her bridesmaids crying softly behind her and she swallowed to keep her own tears from rising.

 

They exchanged rings quickly, the simple gold band stark against Ze’ev’s finger and glinting off Scarlet’s. They held each other’s hand as the preacher began to finish the ceremony.

 

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.” Ze’ev softly let go of her hands and brought them up, lifting her veil from over her face. He gently holds her face and guides her to meet him in the middle. Her hands move to his face as his hands move to pull her closer by the waist, his arm wrapping around her back. It was a soft and slow kiss, much like their first kiss, a brush of lips in the garden one day.

 

Ze’ev pulls away slightly, still close before stepping back to her, wrapping an arm around her legs and back and lifting her, beginning to carry her down back the aisle. She giggles, clutching her husband’s dress shirt. Not for fear he would drop her, she just wanted to. Her husband was warm as normal and his heart raced. 

 

Ze’ev walked them outside where there was a car waiting for them. He let her stand so she could move inside the car, sliding over so he could join her. He pulled her close to him and captured her lips again, one of his large hands resting on her ribs, the other cupping her waist. Teasingly, Scarlet, pulls his lip between her teeth, making him growl slightly and her giggle.

 

“I love you, Lady Scarlet Kesley,” Ze’ev murmurs against her lips, tugging her closer, shooting her a bright smile.

 

“I love you more,” Scarlet giggles back, stroking his cheeks softly. “You have lipstick…” she move her hand to rub it off his lips and lets her, softly kissing her fingers.

 

*~*

 

Although she didn’t enjoy doing it, Scarlet was a brilliant dancer, and so was Ze’ev. They flowed across the dance floor seamlessly, their steps in time. He leant close to her, his lips resting against her forehead and his arms encompassing her smaller frame. Her first dance as a married lady was going swimmingly and as the music ended, Scarlet realised she didn’t want to be released from the warmth of Ze’ev’s arms. She watched as the other couple’s at her reception take the floor, Cinder and Kai swaying slowly so as not to overwork Cinder’s one skin leg, Winter and Jacin doing the classical waltz they grew up learning and Cress and Thorne spinning around the floor, Cress giggling at something her dance partner said, Thorne kissing her cheek.

 

Scarlet and Ze’ev switched partners throughout the night. Scarlet gave Thorne a stern talking to about his intentions with Cress, which to any one not listening, probably looked like a mother scolding her child. She did an lively jig with Emillie, Cress and Iko and somehow managed to get roped into a traditional Grecian dance.

 

Ze’ev swept her away to Paris for two weeks worth of honey-mooning - spent in the sheets and sight seeing the city - that she didn’t want to come home from.

 

_Maybe her father was stupid, but it doesn’t always have horrible results._


End file.
